After Crashing Rally Car Into Reservoir, Racers Narrowly Escape Death

Last week, while driving their Ford Fiesta RS World Rally Car in a Rally Mexico event, driver Ott Tanak and co-driver Raigo Molder flew off a dirt road and into a nearby reservoir. Quickly, the ride began to sink and was completely submerged in a few short seconds.

Faced with the life or death moment, both drivers moved quickly, unbuckling their seatbelts and opening their doors as soon as the water began to engulf the windshield. During the fast paced sequence, co-driver Molder was even sharp enough to grab the pace notes from the vehicle!

Initially, race officials were unaware what happened to the Ford Fiesta and its two drivers, as they had lost all radio and GPS contact. On top of that, the driver’s cell phones were broken during the incident. Not knowing what happened, race officials quickly halted the stage and sent out a helicopter to search the trail.

Eventually, after 17 minutes of panic, the drivers were found, and fortunately, they were not injured.  The race car, on the other hand, took 10 hours to find and pull out of the water!

In a message posted to Twitter, Ott Tanak wrote, “We are both feeling better now after a hot shower. Thanks to everyone for messages of support.”

Check out the amazing footage from two different angles in the videos below…

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